Azure SME
Role Overview
The Azure Solution Architect & Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Managed Services is responsible for designing, stabilizing, operating, and continuously optimizing Azure environments for enterprise customers. This role acts as the technical authority for Azure operations-owning architecture standards, complex incident resolution, cost optimization, security posture, and service improvements across 24×7 operations.
Experience Requirements
Total Experience
· 10 - 12 years of overall IT experience in Infrastructure, Cloud, or Platform Operations
Relevant Experience
· 7-10 years of hands-on experience in Microsoft Azure
· 5-7 years specifically in Azure Managed Services / Cloud Operations
· 3+ years operating large-scale production environments (24×7, enterprise or SaaS)
Key Responsibilities
1. Architecture & Platform Ownership
· Define and govern Azure Landing Zones aligned with CAF and enterprise standards.
· Own reference architectures for compute, networking, storage, identity, and security.
· Ensure designs support high availability, scalability, resilience, and operational excellence.
· Standardize subscription management, RBAC, policies, tagging, and naming conventions.
2. Managed Services Operations (Run & Stabilize)
· Act as L3 escalation point for complex Azure incidents (P1-P3).
· Lead root cause analysis (RCA) and drive permanent fixes.
· Review service performance against SLAs, SLOs, and KPIs.
· Guide L2/L3 teams on best practices and troubleshooting patterns.
3. Azure Monitoring, Reliability & Observability
· Design and govern monitoring and alerting using:
o Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights
· Define alert thresholds, noise reduction, and proactive detection.
· Drive availability, MTTR reduction, and incident prevention initiatives.
4. Security & Compliance
· Own Azure security architecture and posture:
o Microsoft Defender for Cloud
o Azure Policy, Blueprint alternatives
o Identity security (Entra ID / RBAC / PIM)
· Ensure compliance with ISO, SOC, GDPR, and internal security controls.
· Lead vulnerability remediation, security incidents, and audits.
5. FinOps & Cost Optimization
· Drive Azure cost governance and optimization:
o Right-sizing, reservations, savings plans
o Storage lifecycle management
o Network cost optimization
· Review customer bills, identify savings opportunities, and track realized benefits.
· Partner with customers on cost vs performance trade-offs.
6. Automation & Operational Excellence
· Promote Infrastructure as Code (IaC):
o ARM / Bicep / Terraform
· Automate provisioning, patching, backups, and DR testing.
· Improve operational efficiency using runbooks, scripts, and self-healing mechanisms.
7. Service Improvement & Transformation
· Identify repeat incidents and drive problem management.
· Recommend modernization opportunities:
o VM → PaaS
o Monolith → scalable architectures
· Support onboarding of new customers and workloads into managed services.
8. Customer & Stakeholder Engagement
· Act as technical advisor to customers in service reviews.
· Translate technical issues into business impact and recommendations.
· Support service expansion, upsell, and architectural roadmaps (post-sales).
Required Skills & Experience
Azure Technical Expertise
· Deep hands-on experience with:
o Compute: VM, VMSS, App Service, AKS
o Networking: VNET, VPN, ExpressRoute, Azure Firewall, NSG
o Storage: Blob, Files, Disks
o Identity: Entra ID, RBAC, PIM
· Strong experience with HA/DR, backup, and business continuity.
Managed Services & Ops Skills
· Experience in 24×7 Azure operations.
· Strong incident, problem, and change management exposure.
· Comfortable owning production environments at scale.
Certifications (Preferred)
· Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
· Azure Administrator / Security Engineer (good to have)
· ITIL Foundation (managed services alignment)
Soft Skills
· Strong troubleshooting and decision-making skills.
· Ability to mentor L2/L3 engineers.
· Clear communication with both technical and business stakeholders.
· Ownership mindset and bias